Where I'm at now

I haven't really been updating this like I should. I do still keep my weight-loss journal at home, so I'm keeping track of everything, but still. Anyway, here's where I'm at...

WW will always be the foundation of my weight-loss plan, whatever it may be at the moment. Like right now, I'm not counting points (per se), but I pay attention to portion sizes and I *think* about how many points I'm consuming whenever I eat. It just dawned on me a couple days ago that I now have to eat FEWER points. I was a little miffed at first, but not like I didn't know this was coming. I understand that the smaller I get, the less fuel my body will need to run. I get that and all. But I'm overweight because I have a food addiction, so eating FEWER points still poses a problem to me. I JUST got acclimated to eating 26pts, now I'm down to 24. BUT the flip side of it is I'm still earning activity points and I still have those 35 WAP, so I'm good to go. But WW and the Points system will never be far from me. They help me to regulate what I eat and how much of it I eat at one time. I may not be attending my meetings, but I still get my magazine and I still have all of my WW tools from the 12 weeks I did attend meetings. That being said...

I'm researching again. I talked to a soror and she happened to mention detox. This is the second time it's come up in our conversations, so I figured I'd research it a little bit. And I don't mean taking any pills from GNC, I mean natural detoxification. Clearly, I have no idea what that entails, but I'm trying to steer clear of foreign substances. Not to mention, most pills or capsules are made with gelatin, and I can't eat pork in any form, so that's out. And speaking of not eating pork, what I know is helping me is following the dietary law set forth by our Creator. He lays it all out for us in Leviticus 11. I've been following this law for about 3 years now, but I'm constantly learning new foods that are unclean because they contain pork by-products. It dawned on me that if I was more conscientious in paying attention to ingredients and faithfully following YAH's dietary law, I'd be A LOT healthier! Anyway, that was all off topic, but important nonetheless. So I decided to get some books on detoxification while I was here at the library. I am checking out books I've already read but want to read again, and then books I've never read at all. Here's what I have:

1. The Detox Diet by Elson M. Haas, M.D. - I read the introduction and a little bit of each of the first few chapters. Very interesting and informative. Taking it home to get a better understanding of who needs, why, and when to detox. It even includes a detox diet. This has more to do with health than with weight-loss, but apparently has weight-loss effects.
2. Juice Fasting and Detoxification by Steve Meyerowitz - I picked this up because I haven't been juicing and I wanted to get back into it. Again, more for health benefits than for weight-loss.
3. The Juiceman's Power of Juicing by Jay Kordich - I read some of this when I first got my juicer and wanted to learn about juicing. I figured I may as well pick it up again.
4. Weight Loss That Lasts by James M. Rippe, M.D. & Weight Watchers - Why not? Just to keep me on my toes, give me a little extra motivation, and maybe I'll learn something that you don't get in meetings. A refresher course, if you will.
5. Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight for Everybody - Heard lots of good things about the Mayo Clinic. Turns out, the whole Mayo Clinic Diet is a myth, doesn't exist. But I figured I'd still read the book because they are touted to be experts. Might learn something.
6. FitFood, Eating Well for Life by Ellen Haas - I'm currently reading Superfoods Rx (for the 2nd time) and Superfoods HealthStyle, both by Dr. Steven Pratt. FitFood lists 21 fit foods, their advantages, and recipes using them. Very similar to the 14 Superfoods, so I figured I'd pick it up and compare and see if there is anything new in there that I haven't read before.
7. Wellness Foods A to Z by Sheldon Margen, M.D. - I've had this book before and I just had to pick it up again. It's like an encyclopedia of all foods and their nutritional benefits. It's fascinating. Nothing you could read cover to cover, but I would love to own this one day. In the meantime, I can keep getting it for FREE from the library. :)

So that's where I'm at right now. What I've come to realize is that if I focus on my HEALTH and not my looks, I get a lot farther. I don't want heart disease and I refuse to get it. I REFUSE. So I'm all about what I eat. I read in one of these books that 3 out of the 4 top reasons for disease have to do with how we eat. How crazy is that? All we have to do to ensure that we are healthy and remain healthy is EAT RIGHT?! Yet we don't do it. Damn all that. If that's all I have to do to ensure I don't follow in my parents' footsteps, I'M ON IT!!! I'm also trying to add new and different foods to my diet. I'm guilty of eating the same things all the time. It's not that I don't like what I eat or that I'm getting bored, it's just that I'm missing out on nutrients from other foods. So I'm broadening my horizons, which is hard for me because I'm a VERY picky eater. And I DON'T like vegetables. But I've decided to eat to live and not live to eat. I should not eat food simply because I like how it tastes, but because it's good for me and will have lasting effects on my health in the long run. That's what's important. If it's just THAT bad, then I'll juice it. Plus, I figure I don't have to eat whatever vegetable it is by itself, I can incorporate it into a recipe and still reap the nutritional benefits from it. I'm growing. Who knew?!

Another book I have at home right now is Cooking Thin With Chef Kathleen by Kathleen Daelmanns. It's a cookbook, with some decent recipes, but what I love about it even more is that before she even gets into the recipes, she gives tips on weight-loss. It's REALLY great and I'd recommend it to anyone.

So what have I learned? This has nothing to do with a "diet." I'm not on a "diet." I'm simply changing my eating habits and becoming more active. That's all. The changes I've made and am currently making will be a part of my lifestyle forever. That's why I can't do anything drastic - I know I'm not going to stick to it, so there's no sense in doing it now. Plus, I'm all about my health. Drastic diets focus on weight-loss, and while that's all well and good, what about my health?

So that's where I'm at!

Next up: Curves and limiting carbs, low-fat baking... Stay tuned...